BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / The Memory Sticks and AGRA

**Posted by TheOtherOne** January 4, 2017 11:50 pm

Not sure if anyone noticed or pointed this out already, but AJ's memory stick doesn't actually say A. G. R. A. It says A.G. RA. This was something that had also been brought up before in the forum for HLV. Back then it was about how the memory stick Mary put on the table in 221B looked different to the memory stick John threw into the fire, and the general conclusion seemed to be "continuity error".

Given we've now seen AJ's USB too... this might not be the case? If it's actually A.G. RA and not A.G.R.A., then:
1. The whole A.G.R.A. backstory is fake.
2. John did not destroy Mary's real memory stick, so the fact that Sherlock said "she destroyed it" might actually make a bit more sense...

I've also been very confused about Mary's line when she arrived to rescue the ambassador... she told her the delay was because she "couldn't get the staff". If everyone is "family" as she alluded to and they've worked together as a unit numerous times, then why did she say that? Did she really know these people? Were her "real family members" elsewhere at the time?

Adding screenshot:

And also adding link to previous forum topic with screenshots here:
http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?pid=120950#p120950

Last edited by TheOtherOne (January 5, 2017 12:08 am)

**Posted by SolarSystem** January 5, 2017 10:08 am

To me this has always been and will always be what you would call a "continuity error". It's just not possible to see these tiny differences when you watch the show without taking screenshots and having a closer look. The 'casual audience' doesn't have a chance in the world to see this.
So for me it would be totally over the top if Mofftiss really followed some intention in terms of the story with this... the casual viewer wouldn't understand unless they made it clear with what I imagine would be a pretty cumbersome (what a great word!) explanation.

**Posted by TheOtherOne** January 5, 2017 10:41 am

So if it's continuity error then there's still the contradiction with what Sherlock says about "she destroyed it", as well as Mary's staff comment which is at odd with the explanation. Still can't figure these points out right now!

**Posted by sherlocked** January 5, 2017 10:51 am

TheOtherOne, you might be onto something. I can't figure it out either right now. But I don't like the apparently mounting count of continuity errors. I saw immediately that the memory stick in the bust looked very much like the one which has been so intensely discussed in HLV. And it's hard to believe in a coincidence since the makers would've had ample time to correct such a mistake. And Sherlock's contention that Mary destroyed the stick is indeed very puzzling, since we've seen moments before a flashback which clearly shows that John destroyed the stick.

**Posted by Liberty** January 5, 2017 10:52 am

Sherlock wasn't there when it was destroyed. Possibly John or Mary told him, but didn't specify who had physically put it in the fire. But I think the point of him saying "she" is for Ajay to pick up that he knows Mary.

**Posted by Mothonthemantel** January 5, 2017 10:57 am

Yes. Too many so called continuity errors. Much of what we have seen must be MP.

Remember Sherlock wasn't in the room with Mary and John he was listening outside the door. Apparently.

**Posted by sherlocked** January 5, 2017 12:13 pm

I don't think we see proper mind palace sequences all the way through this episode. But there are a number of hints that we all see many sequences as they play out in Sherlock's mind. There are many hints because apparent continuity errors are about things Sherlock could not have known about from first-hand experience - like on which side of the bed John and Mary prefer to sleep. Some sequences are shown twice and in slightly differing versions - as if the narrator isn't quite sure about what really happened. But I have a hard time to make up my mind about the memory stick. We are shown a flashback from HLV where John throws it into the fire. Since Sherlock wasn't there when it happened and since he apparently believes that Mary destroyed it, this flashback sequence cannot have come from the inside of Sherlock's mind. It's what objectively happened. So, not everything we see in TST is distorted through the lense of Sherlock's mind. Which makes it even more difficult to distingush what's real and what's coming from an unreliable narrator called Sherlock

Last edited by sherlocked (January 5, 2017 12:14 pm)

**Posted by besleybean** January 5, 2017 5:08 pm

Why would Sherlock be imagining John and Mary in bed?!

**Posted by Schmiezi** January 5, 2017 6:43 pm

besleybean wrote:
Why would Sherlock be imagining John and Mary in bed?!

Because he tells Ella about them.

**Posted by besleybean** January 5, 2017 6:44 pm

We think...

**Posted by Schmiezi** January 5, 2017 6:57 pm

besleybean wrote:
We think...

If not Sherlock, who would be the narrator of this episode?

**Posted by besleybean** January 5, 2017 6:59 pm

Does it need a narrator?

**Posted by Schmiezi** January 5, 2017 7:06 pm

besleybean wrote:
Does it need a narrator?

Well yes, every story needs one. It can be the all-knowing narrator but that would be a first for "Sherlock". The first episodes were told from John's POV, with S3 it changes to Sherlock's.

**Posted by besleybean** January 5, 2017 7:17 pm

John is of course the traditional and loved narrator, but I do like it when Sherlock does his bit.